Tape measuring guide knife for cutting sheet rock, plaster board and similar materials



Sept. 13, 1960 F. H. JOHNSON 2,952,025

TAPE MEASURING GUIDE KNIFE FOR CUTTING SHEET ROCK, PLASTER BOARD ANDSIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 50, 1959 IN VEN TOR.

d WMD/Mz:

United' States Patent O TAPE MEASURING GUIDE KNIFE FOR CUTTING SHEETROCK, PLASTER BOARD AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Floyd H. `Iohnson, 407 E. thSt. South, Logan, Utah Filed Apr. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 810,033

2 Claims. (Cl. 7-14.1)

This invention relates to cutters for various sheet maf terialsespecially plaster bo-ard, rock lath, sheet rock, etc. Heretofore it hasbeen diicult and inaccurate to use means available for measuring cuts,but with the present invention, accuracy and efliciency are predominate.

'I'he principal object of the present invention is to provide a cutterassembly in combination with a tape measure, carried by the cutterassembly and a material end riding guide connected to the outer end ofthe tape measure.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a sheet materialcutting assembly including a handle carrying a knife, a measuring tapefeedable from the handle, a guide at lthe outer end of the handle andmeans for clamping the tape at a iixed extended position, measuring awayfrom the handle.

A further object of the invention is to provide an assembly of thecharacter stated, which will be of simple construction, durable and oflow cost to manufacture, and

accordingly the device can be retailed and made available tocontractors, workers and others at a very low retail price.

These and various other objects and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent to the reader of the following description.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the cutter assembly.

Figure 2 is a cross section taken substantially on line 2-2 of Figure l,showing the measuring tape and guide extended.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing wherein like numerals designate like parts, itcan be seen that reference character generally refers to a handlestructure, while numeral 11 generally refers to a measuring tape andnumeral 12 to a sheet material guide at the outer end of the tape.

The handle 10 consists of a hollow body V13 of suitable shape andadapted to be comfortably held in the hand of a workman.

The forward end of this handle slopes at at 14 and is constricted ortapered as shown in Figure 3, the same being slotted both at its noseportion 15 and under portion 16 to receive the cutting edge projectingportion 17 of a blade 18.

Inside of the hollow handle 10 is a spring wound reel 19 on which iswound a Ysteel tape 20 having measuring indicia or markings 21 thereon.

As can be seen in Figure 1, extra blades 22 may be suitably storedwithin the handle 13 and the handle 13 is preferably in two sections a,b held together by bolts 23, 24, the bolt 23 serving the double functionof not only holding the blade 18 in place but also the sections of thehandle at the nose portion thereof. y

2,952,025y Patented Sept. 13, 1960 ICC The guide 12 consists of a plate25 which has its vertical end portions curved outwardly as at 26.

Protruding outwardly from the plate 25 is a suitable handle 27 which canbe held by one end of the workman while the handle 10 is being operatedacross the work in cutting the same.

A detent for holding the tape 20 extended is in the form of an arcuatetrigger 28 pivoted as at 29 to one side of the handle 13, the upper endof which is adapted to engage the top side of the tape 20 and hold thesame against a lip 30 projecting from the handle 13 at a slot 31 formedin the handle, through which the tape 20 is payed from the reel 19. Itcan be seen that the lip 30 serves as a stationary door between whichand the upper end of the trigger 28, the tape 12 -is held in a fixedpredetermined position, While the guide 12 and 4the handle 13 are slidacross a building material sheet.

It can be seen that through the medium of the handle with its cutter1f8, the measuring tape 20 and the guide 25, an accurate measured cutcan be made across a sheet of building material, preparatory to its use.

While the foregoing description sets forth the invention in specificterms, itis to be understood that numerous changes in the shape, sizeand materials may be resorted to without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as claimed hereinafter.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. A device for cutting sheet materials comprising a handle providedwith a knife blade, a spring reel mounted on the handle, a measuringtape secured to and extending from the reel and away from the handlewhen pulled to an extended position, a guide structure at the outer endof the tape means for securing the blade to the handle, and detent meanson the handle for engaging the tape and holding the same in a definiteextended position, said means for holding the tape being in the form ofa curved trigger, one end of which is adapted to be engaged by a nger ofa Workman while the other end engages the tape.

2. A device for cutting sheet materials comprising a handle providedwith a knife blade, a spring reel mounted on the handle, a measuringtape secured to and extending from the reel and away from the handlewhen pulled to an extended position, a guide structure at the outer endof the tape means for securing 4the blade to the handle, and detentmeans on the handle for engaging the tape and holding the same in adefinite extended position, said means for holding the tape being in theform of a curved trigger, one end of which is adapted to be engaged by alinger of a workman while the other end engages the tape, said handlebeing provided with an outstanding lip, underlying the tape and againstwhich the tape can be clamped by the engaging end of the trigger.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS486,156 Cero Nov. 15, 18952 1,821,718 Melcher Sept. l, 1931 1,995,887Kimball Mar. 26, 1935 2,098,641 Cook Nov. 9, 1937 2,187,590 Lurie Jan.16, 1940 2,194,307 Jackson Mar. 19, 1940 2,282,729 l'Knauf May 12, 19422,818,644 Crawford Jan. 7, 1958

